- Late last month, four more fraud and conspiracy charges were added.
- Bankman-Fried entered a not-guilty plea in January on eight charges of fraud.
Former crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal team requested a postponement of his October 2 criminal trial. This is according to court documents filed on March 8. According to Reuters, their argument was that it may take longer than anticipated to analyze the facts and prepare a defense.
The attorneys wrote to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, pointing out that the Manhattan federal prosecutors had failed to provide evidence. SBF’s former closest allies had their devices scoured for information. Including former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and former FTX technology Chief Gary Wang.
Under Supervised House Arrest
Late last month, four more fraud and conspiracy charges were added. As a result, the former FTX chief now faces 12 charges. After being arrested in December, Bankman-Fried entered a not-guilty plea in January on eight charges of fraud.
Under the terms of his $250 million bail. SBF was allowed to return to his parents’ California home under house arrest. The discovery that Bankman-Fried had used a virtual private network (VPN) to access the internet prompted Judge Kaplan to consider revising the bail conditions.
Moreover, the usage of encrypted messaging platforms and communication with former FTX workers were both restricted to him. On the other hand, the prosecution has urged that he be allowed to stay free. But with tight restrictions on his use of technology.
Bankman-Fried’s attorneys claim that their client will try to separate himself from the day-to-day activities of FTX as part of their defense. It has been reported that, should his trial be postponed, he may seek to place the responsibility on Ellison and contradict her scheduled evidence. Cooperating witnesses are typically attacked by defendants who allege that the witnesses are driven to lie and incriminate others in order to get leniency.
